


In the Forest of Insignificant Ones (the forest whispers my name)

by justcallmeizzo



Series: We of the Wolves [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-24
Updated: 2013-08-24
Packaged: 2017-12-24 09:26:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justcallmeizzo/pseuds/justcallmeizzo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The full moon is approaching and Stiles and Derek are kidnapped by the Alpha pack and locked in a room. Together. Somehow it's not as terrible as Stiles would have imagined, but the whole encounter leaves him with questions only a certain "vet" can answer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Forest of Insignificant Ones (the forest whispers my name)

**Author's Note:**

> The panic attack is described from Stiles' POV. It's generally how my panic attacks go and I know that everyone has different reactions to them, so mostly it just talks about difficulty breathing and a tight chest and Derek walks him through it.

A few days had passed since the basement room interrogation, and Jess had managed to avoid everyone in Derek’s pack, Stiles included. Stiles thought it had been obvious that he was against the whole thing, but apparently Jess didn’t want to hear it.

So he continued working with the pack, showing them whatever research he could find, which wasn’t much. They had pack study groups where Lydia schooled them with her far superior knowledge on apparently every topic that they discussed. Generally Stiles zoned in and out of the conversations though, waiting for the next thing to go wrong.

His anxiety had gotten worse since the interrogation, meaning what little sleep he could scrounge up before was almost entirely non-existent in the days that followed. If anyone in the pack noticed his behavior changes, they didn’t mention it, for which he was eternally grateful.

Their last meeting was at Derek’s loft in the industrial part of Beacon Hills. Stiles didn't want to talk about the immense relief that flooded through him when he found out from Isaac that Derek wasn’t actually living in the burnt shambles of his childhood home. But Derek’s loft? It was really nice, like, Stiles was pretty sure he had to manually close his mouth after walking in for the first time.

It was open and the decoration was minimal, but there was entire wall of windows that looked out on Beacon Hills, and the view itself was better than anything else. Well, maybe not better than a bed, which Stiles could see through a mostly closed door on the farthest wall. There was also a spiral staircase that Isaac had said led to his room and a second bathroom.

After everyone had left, Isaac had gone upstairs and Stiles had gone to look out the window. He could see Derek approach with the reflection of the glass, which was the only reason he didn’t jump when Derek spoke behind him.

“Shouldn’t you head home? It’s getting late.”

Stiles just shrugged. “Dad’s got the midnight shift. But why’re you asking anyway? Trying to become Pack Mom and Alpha now that you’ve discovered the secret matriarchy?”

Derek huffed and said, “Forget I said anything.” Then he walked away into the kitchen to clean, from the sounds of it.

Stiles knew it was probably a big deal that Derek approached him first or that he wasn’t saying something rude, but Stiles’ exhaustion was overwhelming. His minimal brain-to-mouth filter was failing him almost entirely lately, when he had the energy to say anything at all. He hadn’t meant to snap at Derek though.

Stiles sighed and walked to lean against the counter next to where Derek was washing the dishes the pack had dirtied during the meeting. “So, the full moon’s in two days.” Derek just nodded curtly which annoyed him, but it was his own fault for shutting Derek down in the first place. “Do you have a place for everyone to spend the night?”

Derek looked over cautiously for a second before continuing to wash. “We should just be able to run in the woods, everyone was in control for the last full moon so.” He shrugged but Stiles tightened his eyes.

“I thought Jackson broke loose with Erica and destroyed the cabin the last full moon.”

Derek pursed his lips. “So Erica and Jackson need to spend the night in the cabin, but everyone else is fine. We’re just gonna go for a run.”

“Do you need help getting chain?”

“What?”

“Well since they broke the last ones, I figured you needed new stuff. We could go look at stuff on Saturday. If you want?” Stiles didn’t really intend it as a question and he really had no idea where the invitation had come from, but it was already out of his mouth and he definitely couldn’t take it back now.

“Sure.”

“Wait. What?”

“I was gonna go to the store beforehand anyway and your Jeep has a better trunk for it than my Camaro.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did I just hear you talk bad about your Camaro?”

“No, you heard me compliment your Jeep. But don’t worry, it won’t happen again. That thing’s gonna fall apart any day now.”

“Oh whatever man, my Jeep is a thing of beauty and I will fight you on that fact.” Derek’s eyebrows raised slightly before he turned to put the plates away and dry his hands.

“What time should we go?”

Stiles rubbed his hands through his buzzcut. “Uhm, how about I pick you up around noon?”

“Alright.”

“Okay, great. Then, I’ll see you then.” Derek just nodded and Stiles pushed himself off the counter and headed to the front door. He turned to wave before leaving, but Derek’s back was to him, so he just turned and headed to his car.

When he got home, he layed in bed for a while thinking if you could technically call an outing to Home Depot a date or if it was in fact just an outing, and if he even wanted to possibly go on a date with Derek Hale in the first place.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They were walking back to the Jeep from Home Depot after trying to find chains that would be strong enough to hold the pack this time.

Of course, they had gone to a Home Depot two towns away so the sheriff wouldn’t find out that his son was buying some serious bondage materials with an ex-murder suspect, which meant that no one from the pack was around to help fight off the Alphas that showed up right after they loaded the back of Stiles’ Jeep.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Stiles said. The Alpha’s smile was sinister, and not in the same was Jess’ was. This smile looked more like Peter’s: desperate and deceiving.

Stiles could hear Derek on the other side of the Jeep, apparently fighting his own Alpha.

Luckily he was still by the trunk, he could easily reach a weapon, but he’d have to be fast. He shoved his hand in the trunk and pulled out a baseball bat. The Alpha just laughed and said, “He’s got a _bat_ , Deuc.” And then she switched her tone to mocking and said, “Oh what _ever_ shall I do now?”

She started towards him and Stiles just steadied his stance. Three... Two... And then he swung. A loud smack reverberated around them but Stiles could only hear his heart drumming in his ears.

He looked to where she had been forced into his Jeep, her head bleeding and eyes red. Her jaw hadn’t healed yet, so Stiles took this as his opportunity to talk her into backing off.

“I’ve had this bat for years, but I don’t really get to use it.” He started to roll it between his hands, ready to strike again if needed. “So when I learned about an Alpha pack I decided I should probably step up my game. I looked online and found some protection runes that I carved in, but you know how unreliable some of those sites can be, so I took it up a notch. I made my own varnish to give it this pretty sheen you’re currently glaring at, I mixed mountain ash and salt and a few other, uh, _mystery ingredients_ we’ll call them.”

She was still glaring at him, but Stiles could see that her jaw had healed. She stood back up slowly, Stiles watching her every muscle twitch in anticipation. “And what makes you think I would give a rat’s ass what the fuck you put on your piece of shit baseball bat?” She was still angry, but Stiles knew she was about to get much angrier.

He shrugged and pointed at his Jeep’s window with his bat. “Just thought you’d want an idea on how to reverse that.”

Her eyes widened and when she looked at herself, a sharp, piercing scream filled the area. Her skin from where the bat had hit her was slowly burning away, black lines following her veins ran down her neck and across her cheek. Stiles couldn’t help but smirk before turning around to help Derek.

But before he could, the Alpha she had called “Deuc” was standing in front of him. Stiles didn’t have time to swing the bat before he grabbed his head and slammed it into the Jeep.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stiles started to regain consciousness after some unknown amount of time. He could feel his heart pulsing in his skull and his head hurt more than he could have ever imagined possible, but he took solace in the fact that it meant he was alive.

He could hear muffled voices around him, but he couldn’t quite make them out, so he focused on checking all of his limbs. His legs were tied to the legs of the chairs, but he could move his toes still. Next he worked on moving his fingers. They were tied at the wrists to each other behind him, forcing him to sit up. As he moved them they ran across something furry that made a small noise in response.

He was tied back to back with Derek. _This has to be some sort of a joke_.

After another minute of refocusing himself, the muffled voices started to make sense, but they were leaving whatever room they were all in. When they reached the door, Stiles could hear one of them say, “You were right, Kali. He looks like his mother.” Then the door closed and he could hear the faint click of the lock.

Stiles licked his lips and felt his heart beat faster. _They were talking about Derek right? I mean, they had to be. But..._ Stiles couldn’t shake the feeling that they were talking about him, about his mother. But how would they know about his mother?

He took a deep breath before shaking his head. He could worry about all of that later, right now he needed to get out of this situation, preferably alive and with Derek. He whispered as loud as he dared, “Derek?” He received a slight groan in response, but no words.

“ _Derek_ ,” he tried again. The response was more lucid this time, although it was evident that Derek was still pretty out of it.

He looked around the room, but there wasn’t much. It looked like one of the abandoned factories that surrounded Beacon Hills, but Stiles doubted the Alphas drove them back so close to their own pack. He quickly tried to remember the buildings he saw while driving. He could remember a few dilapidated buildings around, but he had no way of know which he was in or even in what town he was in.

There was a deep orange light hitting the smooth, concrete wall across from him in the tiniest sliver. _A window! There’s a window! Oh thank God_.

He tried to move his ankles, but the ropes were too tight to budge, so he moved to his wrists which were attached to Derek’s. The movement caused Derek to stir awake all the way. “Derek?”

“Stiles?” His voice was hoarse and slow and Stiles could almost hear his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Yup. I’m here, and I’ve definitely learned that my dad hearing of possible bondage is a much better deal than this.” Derek tried to move his wrists until he realized how tightly they were tied.

“Where are we?”

Stiles shrugged. “I’m not sure but probably between Beacon Hills and Home Depot.”

“Why?”

“Alphas and interrogation I’m assuming? I’m not really sure. I didn’t wake up until they were leaving.” Derek made a small noise of understanding. “Are you okay?”

Derek took a deep breath, “Yeah, a little sore, but healing. What about you?”

“Not bad. I’ve got a killer migraine but other than that I’m good.” Stiles tried to loosen their wrists again, but it still wasn’t working. He needed something sharp enough to cut through the rope. “Got it!”

“What?”

“I need you to put out your claws.”

“Why?”

“Derek, trust me okay just put out your claws.”

He huffed in annoyance. “I don’t trust anyone, Stiles.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Oh my God Derek, there is literally no way I could screw you over in this situation okay. We are literally tied together now put out your goddamn claws.”

It took another second of silent deliberation before Derek complied. Stiles felt the claws drag softly across his hands before he grabbed Derek’s middle finger and started to saw away at the rope.

“What the fuck, Stiles?”

“I’m using your claws as a saw to cut the rope, because escaping would be much easier without the conjoined aspect.” He continued to cut the rope slowly, smiling slightly at the face he imagined on Derek’s face. He could just _see_ the pursed lips and furrowed brow while his middle finger was being used to help them escape. How _terrible_.

The rope snapped after what felt like forever and Stiles made a noise of celebration before rubbing his wrists which were red and raw from the rope. He leaned down and tried to untie the ropes around his ankles, but the rope was too thick and bound too tight for him to do it without Derek’s help.

Derek had just stood up and was rubbing his wrists as well before he kneeled next to Stiles’ chair and ripped the ropes easily. “Thanks,” Stiles said weakly. Derek just nodded and looked around the room.

Stiles stood up and blinked to get rid of the blood rushing to his head. He looked over to the wall behind him to locate the window, but he was severely disappointed. “What the hell kind of window is that?” Derek just raised an eyebrow.

The window ran across the top of the wall, but it was only about a foot tall. Stiles had been hoping they could fit through the window and get help from the pack, but after seeing it, he realized there was definitely no way either of them could fit. “We need to come up with a better escape then, cause obviously the window’s out.”

“Well we could always use the door,” Derek supplied with a smug grin. He walked up and tried to open it, but it was locked. He pulled harder but it still didn’t budge.

“Werewolf strength not enough for you right now?” Derek rolled his eyes.

“We need to get out of here.”

“No shit, it’s what I’ve been working on since I woke up. Preferably we escape before the Alpha interrogation.”

“More like, ‘Preferably we escape before the moon rises and the whole pack is running alone’.” He looked at Stiles earnestly, and Stiles just felt his stomach drop.

“Shit.” He walked over to the wall that was across from his chair and sat down, legs pulled up to his chest. He couldn’t feel his phone in his pockets so he assumed “Deuc” had taken care of that. “Did they take your phone?”

Derek was walking slowly around the room and didn’t pause to nod in answer to Stiles.

“Oh!” Stiles threw his hands up excitedly. “Do you think you could just bust through the wall?”

Derek stopped walking and looked at him. “Really?”

“Yeah! Just, you know,” he mimed punching emphatically, but Derek wasn’t amused. “Just use your werewolf strength and bust us out!”

“It doesn’t work like that.” Stiles huffed so Derek continued. “There’s something wrong with the walls. I don’t know how to explain it, but I know I can’t burst through them.”

Stiles groaned and threw his head back. _Great. What’s the point in even having werewolf strength if it’s useless when we really need it?_ “Well is there anything else we could do?”

“We just have to wait it out, from what I can tell.”

“Oh _great_.”

“What the fuck’s your problem?” Derek’s eyebrows deepened and he looked annoyed, but Stiles was just as annoyed, if not more.

“My problem? My _problem_ is that I’m stuck in a locked room with a werewolf on the _full moon_ while my dad is on duty and another 5 betas are roaming free with barely any control, and we just have to sit and twiddle our thumbs, waiting for the asshole alphas who dragged us here to interrogate us and let us go if they don’t just kill us and get it over with-”

“Stiles, breathe, it’s okay,” Derek’s voice was coming through a tunnel.

All Stiles could hear was his heartbeat pounding faster than it should. He started to breathe heavily and tears pricked at his eyes, waiting for permission to fall. Every lost hour of sleep collapsed on him and he felt broken. Like every crevice of his being was slipping from his grasp with every ragged breath he could manage.

He could feel large hands on his body, moving him. His legs were laid straight in front of him, rather than tucked to his chest, held down by some sort of weight. The hands moved to his shoulders and shook them for a moment before clasping his ears and forcing his head to look somewhere else. He opened his eyes and found himself staring directly into Derek’s eyes.

“Stiles you need to breathe, okay?” Stiles was trying, he really was, but it was like exhaustion had taken a solid form and was sitting on his chest. “Stiles look at my eyes, I’m under control. I’m completely under control.” Stiles kept staring at Derek’s eyes, at the mixture of blues and greens and browns, astounded that eyes could even hold that much color in them.

“Listen to my heartbeat in your ears, Stiles. It’s steady because I’m in control.” Stiles could hear Derek’s heartbeat, beating steadily as he spoke. It helped Stiles focus on calming himself, now that he had something specific to concentrate on. Stiles focused on his own heartbeat and tried to slow it to match Derek’s. “Breathe, Stiles. This too shall pass,” Stiles could see a sad smile pass his lips quickly before Derek continued to mutter, “just breathe”.

They stayed like that until Stiles’ breathing had evened completely and his heartbeat was back to it’s normal pace. Derek let go and stood up and Stiles felt the weight lift of his legs, which is when he realized Derek was using his leg to hold Stiles’ down. “Thanks,” he said weakly. Derek just nodded and sat down in Stiles’ chair, shoulders slouched. “How did you know how to. You know,” he gestured around his body weakly, trying to convey the thoughts that were still lagging from exhaustion.

Derek sighed heavily, and for the first time since they first met in the woods, Stiles could see just how young Derek was. “After the fire I used to get them. Laura would talk me through them in shitty hotel rooms.” He shook his head while looking at his hands. Stiles could feel his chest tighten, but out of understanding for Derek. He had never really imagined the pain Derek must have felt that day, about how hard breathing must have been for months afterwards. “It wasn’t fun.” Derek supplied quietly before taking a deep breath again.

Stiles cleared his voice and pushed himself up from the wall, hoping that pacing might wake him up more and get his brain working. “Okay, so we need to get out of here, obviously. Kool-Aid action is out, along with doors and windows. Our phones are gone so we can’t call anyone.”

Derek snapped his head up. “Wait. Repeat what you just said?”

Stiles stopped in his pacing route and looked at Derek skeptically. “Our phones are gone?”

He stood up while rolling his eyes. “After that.”

Stiles thought about what he said, “So we can’t call anyone?”

Derek just nodded. “We may not be able to call their phones, but I know of one other way we can call them.” Stiles looked perplexed for a second more, before he realized what Derek meant.

“Wait, can it even reach that far?”

Derek put on a smug smile and replied, “I’m the Alpha, Stiles.” His eyes turned red and he moved his legs apart to steady his stance before releasing a deep roar from his body. Stiles threw his hands over his ears, watching Derek use his Alpha powers to help save their lives. He roared for a full minute, until he ran out of breath, before he turned back to Stiles.

“Do you think that worked?” Stiles asked after lowering his arms.

Derek just shrugged. “Hope so. Hopefully it didn’t call the wrong wolves though.” They looked to the door simultaneously, as if Kali and Deuc would come in immediately and kill them for trying to escape. But none of the Alphas came.

At least an hour had passed, Stiles guessed. He was watching the light change out the small window and he could see a light darkness, meaning the moon was steadily rising. Stiles and Derek hadn’t spoken anymore, realizing that they had already shared far too much for comfort.

Stiles was about to throw Derek’s chair in frustration, since Derek had taken it upon himself to sit in Stiles’ chair for the majority of their stay, when a light rapping came from the slim window.

Erica’s blonde mane was visible in the moonlight and Stiles ran over to window and exclaimed, “Oh you beautiful, blonde goddess! I take back everything bad I’ve ever said about you, just get us out, please.”

Erica scoffed, “When have you ever said anything bad about me? I’m phenomenal.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Erica, who else is with you?”

“Boyd, Isaac, and Scott. Jackson went to the cabin already and Lydia and Allison are working on the protection plans that they were supposed to be creating with Stiles.”

“How is Jackson going to stay in the cabin if he doesn’t have any chains?” Derek asked, annoyance dripping from every word.

Erica sighed, “Allison donated some chains that’ll do the job perfectly.”

“And why is an Argent helping at all?”

“Because she cares about people getting hurt, Derek.” Scott interjected. Stiles had to give it to Scott, I mean they weren’t even dating anymore and he was still sticking up for her. “Now do you want to keep asking us questions through the tiny window, or do you want us to break you guys out?”

Derek huffed and Stiles interjected, “Yes! Please! Continue with the rescue plan!”  
“Alright. Stay there! We’re gonna try and get the door open,” Scott replied.

“Great advice, Scott.” Derek rolled his eyes as the betas ran to the door.

Stiles snorted and moved toward the door, waiting for them to open it. It took five minutes before the pack was able to find and open the door that was imprisoning Stiles and Derek, and Stiles dramatically threw himself out of the room and took a deep breath. “Ahh, fresh air.”

“We’re still inside, Stiles.”

“That’s not the point. Shut up.” They stared at each other for a moment longer than was strictly necessary before Stiles started to walk out. They walked out the front of the building and Stiles Jeep was sitting there, with his and Derek’s phone on the hood along with the keys.

“This wasn’t an interrogation.” Derek said quickly, suddenly on alert. Everyone stiffened in response and Stiles could feel his hands start to sweat.

Stiles walked over to the hood of the Jeep, softly running his fingers across the blue paint. He picked up his phone where he had texts from his father and scott asking where he was, but he also had a message from an unknown number.

“I felt like we really hit it off. Until we meet again.” Stiles rolled his eyes. _Of course this guy uses puns. Of. Course._ He closed the message and gave Derek his phone.

“I don’t think they’re actually here guys.” Stiles whispered loudly. Everyone looked over at his quickly, so he continued at normal volume, “It’s the full moon tonight, they probably wanted to see how long it would take for us to work as a pack. Evaluate our threat level.” Isaac, Boyd and Erica all lightened their stance, but Scott and Derek stayed guarded. “They’re not gonna attack tonight guys. This was just to scare us. They’re all about the scare tactics, just think about when they met Boyd and Erica. When they took Isaac. They’re not here guys. We’re fine.”

Scott eased his stance and after a long moment Derek followed suit. “Well, now what?” Boyd asked.

“ _Now_ , you all run through the forest and ‘become one’ with your inner wolves or whatever it is you do.”

“We just run, Stiles.” Derek answered, his eyebrows furrowed. He took a deep breath. “He’s right though. We need to run tonight. We’ve got the whole reservation to go through.” He turned to look at Stiles, “Are you going to be able to get home okay?”

Stiles shook his keys in response, before tapping the hood of his Jeep. “Oh yeah, I’ve got my baby, I’m good to go.”

Derek nodded and walked over to Erica, Boyd and Isaac to talk about the run, while Scott moved over to Stiles.

“Are you sure you’re okay, man?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine, dude.” He hit Scott’s arm playfully and watched a small smile form on his lips.

“But I mean, you spent three hours locked in a room with _Derek Hale_. I didn’t think anyone could survive that.”

They snickered to each other before Stiles looked over Scott’s shoulder. Derek was going over plans with the other pack members, but his head was turned just enough for Stiles to recognize that he was eavesdropping. 

He stopped laughing and shrugged. “He wasn’t so bad. I mean he actually got us untied and had the idea to call you guys here. I mean getting kidnapped isn’t exactly fun, but I could imagine it being worse.” He shrugged again before returning his eyes to Scott, who squinted his eyes and scrunched his nose for a moment. “What? What’s that face?”

“Nothing man. Get home safe okay?”

Stiles pushed Scott away by his head and laughed. “Whatever. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Stiles lifted his hand in a lame goodbye before jumping into his Jeep. He had every intention of going home and sleeping for as long as possible, maybe even in a food coma, but he had something to do first.

He drover for around twenty-five minutes before he pulled up to the animal hospital and hopped out of the car. He wasn’t sure if Deaton would still be there after closing, but he was hoping Deaton stayed for full moons in case anything went wrong. He knocked on the window of the front door and saw a light go on in the back room. Deaton appeared a couple of seconds later and Stiles had never been happier to see him in his office.

“Mr. Stilinski? What are you doing here so late?” His eyes darted behind Stiles. “Is someone hurt?”

“No, nothing’s happened. Well I mean, no one’s hurt.” One of Deaton’s eyebrows raised in response. “Can I come in please? I need to talk to you, and it’s important.”

Deaton nodded softly and unlocked the door. Stiles slipped inside and walked toward the back room. He heard Deaton relock the door and heard his footsteps approach him from behind. He called out quickly, “Could I use your bathroom first? It’s been a long day...”

“Down the hall on your left.”

“Thanks.” Stiles headed towards to bathroom, passing pictures of animals that showed symptoms of different diseases that they could have. He got to the bathroom, turned on the light and winced when he saw his face in the mirror above the sink.

He relieved himself quickly and washed his hands before taking a closer look at the damage. The left side of his face was swollen and a black eye was already beginning to show. His cheekbone was turning a deep purple as well and they were both tender to the touch. He sighed deeply, trying to think of what lie he could possibly tell his dad.

He couldn’t blame lacrosse like he normally would because there wasn’t practice, and there wasn’t a game so he couldn’t blame sore losers on the other team. He splashed water on his face and rubbed his hands through his hair quickly before turning off the light and heading back to Deaton.

“So what’s so important it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Deaton was leaning on the metal table and staring at Stiles intently.

“Derek and I were kidnapped by Alphas today. They knocked us out and took us to this abandoned warehouse a couple miles outside of town and I overheard something while they were leaving.” Deaton waited expectantly while Stiles tried to read something on Deaton’s face, but he wasn’t giving anything away. “He said, ‘You were right, Kali. He looks like his mother’.”

Deaton’s face didn’t change, but Stiles could see his shoulders tense. “So she was talking about me? About my mother?”

Deaton took a deep breath. “What is it you want to hear, Stiles?”

“I want to hear the truth, Deaton. You’ve known more then you’ve let on since the beginning, and I need to know why the Alpha pack knows what my mother looked like. I need answers, Deaton.”

He walked away from the table and towards a small netted box that held vials with different ingredients. Stiles knew for a fact that there were a few herbs in there that weren’t so “animal friendly”, which was one reason he was always a little suspicious of Deaton. The man had knowledge about everything, but he was stingier than a 3-year-old with his own crayon box.

“I’m a veterinarian, Stiles.” Stiles scoffed and Deaton looked over his shoulder with a knowing smile. He brought the box back to the metal table and started taking the vials out and arranging them around the table. “But I’m not _just_ a veterinarian.” He placed the last vial in the middle, the one containing mountain ash. The vials created what appeared to be a pentacle.

“You’re a witch?” Stiles looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

“Not exactly. We’re called Emissaries. Our job is to protect our packs and provide them with whatever assistance they may need.”

“You were the Hale’s Emissary, weren’t you?”

Deaton looked sad for a moment before nodding. “Emissaries are a part of the pack, but they provide the spiritual essence. They keep the pack in balance and work with the Alphas of different packs to keep the peace. I’m sure you’ve learned from your research that Alphas usually ‘check-in’ with other Alphas once they’ve entered new territory?” Stiles nodded, paying close attention to everything he was being told. “Emissaries are expected to do the same. We have to locate the local Emissaries and enact a treaty between the packs.” He started to put the vials back in the box, leaving only the mountain ash out. “That was how I first met your mother.”

Stiles could feel his chest tighten and his eyes widen. “My mom worked for the Alpha pack?” Stiles’ jaw clenched and he could feel his eyes start to prickle. He couldn’t imagine his mother working for the Alphas, he couldn’t be okay with that.

“We don’t work _for_ the packs, Mr. Stilinski.” Deaton replied tersely. Apparently Stiles would have to be more careful with his wording. “And no, she didn’t work with the Alphas, but she did have her own pack up in Oregon.”

Stiles could feel his whole body soften at the thought. His mom loved hiking through the preserve and having family picnics when his dad could get weekends off. Stiles imagined his mom living in Oregon, surrounded by woods and people she could help and wondered why she ever left.

“When I met her, she was 21 and had just moved here. She came to greet me, Emissary to Emissary, but it was just her. Her pack had been killed by hunters, and she couldn’t stand to be in the town anymore, so she moved.”

“Was it the Argents?” Stiles could feel himself getting angry again, but he knew he couldn’t blame Allison. As much as he hated the idea of his mother being unhappy, he knew that it couldn’t be Allison’s fault. She had been slowly making her rounds of apologies to the pack. Some were more forgiving than others.

Deaton shrugged. “There are more hunters than just the Argents, and she never clarified. She wasn’t any sort of danger to us, so I told her she could stay and that I would inform my pack of her residence.”

“What do you mean she wasn’t any sort of danger? Didn’t she have all your herbs?”

“Probably, but Emissaries only have enough power to protect their pack. If a large pack is under attack, the Emissary is incredibly powerful. In fact, they probably wouldn’t even need any of those vials. But a pack without a threat has an Emissary who has vials around just in case. The power changes as it’s needed. Without a pack, your mother had no power, not even the spark that’s needed to become an Emissary.”

“A spark?” Stiles remembered the rave and how he had created a complete circle of mountain ash even after he had run out. Deaton just nodded once. “Does the Emissary power run in the family or is it just a ‘chosen one’ kind of thing?” He swallowed hard and watched Deaton’s mouth move carefully over his words.

“It runs in the family, Stiles.” Deaton’s face was soft and he smiled, probably at the slackjawed look on Stiles’ face.

“So I’m. I’m an Emissary?” Stiles tried to keep his voice from shaking, but it wasn’t working. How the hell was he supposed to come to terms with that fact that he was the spark of magic that packs need to be balanced? He could barely remember to eat balanced meals how could he balance the spirits?

“Not yet. But you could be, if you wanted to.” Stiles was controlling his breathing and attempting to focus on everything Deaton was saying, but it was starting to become information overload. “I’d be here if you wanted to learn what’s needed, whenever you’re ready.” Stiles swallowed and nodded slowly. Deaton could help him. Deaton could definitely help. “I think you should head home now, Stiles. I’m sure the Sheriff is worried, and you’ll want to find a way to cover up your bruises.”

Deaton started to walk towards the door and Stiles followed behind with heavy steps. When they got to the door Deaton handed him the vial of mountain ash that was left on the table. “The Alphas are strong and they’re dangerous. Use this to protect yourself and the pack. Use your spark.”

Stiles nodded and walked out to his Jeep which was parked in two spaces at once. “Thanks for everything, Deaton.” He nodded and closed the door and Stiles started the Jeep and pulled out of the parking lot.

He was driving down one of the many long, empty roads that inhabit Beacon Hills, mulling over all his new-found discoveries. The fact that apparently he was a future Emissary because his mother used to be an Emissary and had a secret life she never really talked about. He sighed deeply and wondered if he could ask his dad about what his mom used to be like without it becoming a whole _thing_.

He drove under a streetlight and saw a flash in his backseat. He thought it was just a binder or a flash from a zipper on his backpack until he heard a sly, “Isn’t Rule 31 to always check the back seat?”

“Oh my God!” The car swerved with his spasm and he yelled, “Fuck! Jess! You can’t just hide in people’s back seats and pop out like a crazy person what the fuck.”

“Calm down, Little Red. You’re over exaggerating. Just drive home and think about how dumb it is to get into a car without checking everything inside, especially on a full moon.” She leaned onto the center console and looked over at him. “You know that’s when all the crazies come out, right?”

He looked over at her, his face contorted with rage. “The crazies? You mean you? Because you’re crazy Jess, like psych ward kinda crazy.” He grabbed the steering wheel hard and took slow breaths to calm himself. This was really not his night.

“Well that’s not very nice, Little Red. You should learn to play nice with the other boys and girls.” She climbed into the passenger seat with ease and pulled a large purse into her lap. “Especially when those boys and girls could have something extremely useful for you.” She smiled maliciously and Stiles could feel his anger dissipate.

“Something more useful than a new heart? I don’t know how many more of your unannounced visits I can handle.”

He looked out the corner of his eye to see her roll her eyes. “Next time I pull a heist in a hospital, I’ll pick one up for you.” She started to unpack her purse and put small bottles and compacts in the cup holder, and she stored some in the glove compartment.

“What are you doing? What is all of that?”

“You’ll see. Pull off here.” She pointed to the grassy shoulder to the right of the road.

“But I’m only two blocks from home! Jess, can’t you wait till tomorrow for all your weird shit? I really just want to eat a lot of food and pass out.”

“Pull over first.” Her voice was forceful and Stiles sighed and pulled off the road. “Good. Now I’m about ninety percent sure you don’t want your dad to see you looking like a reject from Fight Club, right?” Stiles looked over with his mouth open before snapping it shut. “Exactly. So these are my gifts to you.” She displayed the cupholders as if Stiles had just guessed a vowel, but Stiles just looked at Jess’ face.

“You’re serious?” She raised an eyebrow, but everything about her face looked serious. “You want me to wear _make up?_ ”

“No, _you_ want you to wear make up because _you_ don’t want your dad to think you’re a criminal.” She plastered a fake smile and picked up a little bottle and a triangle shaped sponge. “Now, pay attention, because you need to be able to do this on your own tomorrow and the day after until you no longer look like the local punching bag.”

She turned in the seat and pulled Stiles’ face to look at her while she used the sponge to dab on some sort of liquid. She was much more gentle than he thought she could be, and he tried to pay close attention to the order of the different supplies but he was overwhelmed with the day’s activities and the close proximity to a dangerous and attractive werewolf that seemed to be helping him.

“I’m not going to sleep with you, Little Red, so please attempt to keep your pheromones to a minimum.” She continued to work seamlessly while Stiles tried not to drown himself in embarrassment. After a few more minutes she turned the rearview mirror towards Stiles. “There, you can barely tell, meaning your dad should have no idea.”

Stiles looked at himself closely, shocked at how easily five different products could make him look normal again. He held his hand up to touch it, but stopped himself in case he messed it up. He looked over at Jess who just looked smug. “You’re welcome.”

She hopped out of the Jeep and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Wait! Let me at least give you a ride home!”

She held on to the door and looked back at Stiles. “But you’re only a block from home. I’m just gonna walk. It’ll give me a chance to feel my inner-wolf or whatever.” She winked once and closed the door before walking back they way they’d come. Stiles could see her silhouetted in the brake lights for a moment before he put the car in drive and headed back to his house.

His dad’s police cruiser wasn’t in the drive way, which meant Stiles would have to see his dad tomorrow afternoon. He grabbed the products Jess left in the cupholder, his backpack and the vial of mountain ash before heading inside. He put everything in his room, made two sandwiches and grabbed a bottle of water and headed back up to his bed.

He texted his dad, saying he was at Scott’s and his phone had died, but that he was now home and heading to bed. He then texted Scott and Melissa the story so they could vouch for him and the pit in his stomach hardened as he realized just how easy it was to lie sometimes. He watched tv while he ate and eventually sank into his bed and drifted off into a heavy sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally got this chapter finished! It's been haunting me in the back of my mind, deciding how I wanted it to actually end. My classes start again soon, but I'll try to keep updating as I can! I've got a lot of plans for how I want everyone to pan out, so please be patient and I'm sorry I'm such shit at updating!
> 
> Once again beta'd by the wonderful Rachael!
> 
> Title is from the poem "The Forest Whispers My Name" by Shagun Khera


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